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Fun prius facts?

Hello all!

I had a friend try to tell me not to buy a prius because it is not a safe car. I then looked up the crash ratings for the prius and his car. The crash ratings were the same! Now what are you going to complain about buddy?

So, I am looking for some fun facts to tell my friends who do not think the Prius is a good car. Things like “If x people switched to a prius we would not have to import ANY oil”.

Well, if its the environment

Well, if its the environment you care for, dont waste your money. The batteries go out within four years and they cant be recylced when replaced. So that just more to the landfill huh? and the nickel in those batteries kill so much land around the plants. PLUS the fossil fuels used to get them sent to the us is horrible. every part is sent different ways. And they def dont last as long as most cars.

A hummer on the road for one year is better for the environment than just the production of a prius. (:

That 1083 gallons, at 50 mpg, equates to 54,150 miles' worth of emissions due to driving.

Figure that the Prius, without its battery pack, would achieve mileage slightly better than that of the Yaris (figure 45 mpg, as opposed to the Yaris's 42 mpg, approx.). Subtract that from the mileage it achieves with its battery pack (50 mpg), and you get a difference of 5 mpg, or 10%. For 54,150 miles to equal a 10% improvement in mileage, the car would have to travel 541,000 miles, by which time the battery pack would have been replaced at least 3 times.

Rather, look toward clean diesel. Diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline engines by nature. Granted, diesel fuel only contains about 80,000 BTU per gallon, as opposed to 120,000 from gasoline, but the nature of a diesel engine- with a compression ratio as high as 15, as compared to 9 or 10 for a gasoline engine-demonstrates how it is able to turn that chemical potential energy into mechanical energy at a much higher rate of efficiency. Couple that with an increased torque output (which means transmissions can be geared to optimize the torque output from the engine), and diesels are clearly mechanically more efficient.

The biggest drawback to diesel fuel is the increased level of nitrous oxide emsissions. However, with emerging technologies from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, urea is being used as an agent to neutralize the emissions. Urea is a common commercial chemical and is widely available, so manufacturing of it is not a concern.
Another drawback many people see from diesel engines is the amount of particulate matter they release. Particulate matter, however, when it leaves the troposphere and enters the stratosphere, merely becomes a base for the condensation of a water droplet. A denser concentration of particulates relates to a denser cloud, with increased albedo (reflectivity). Increased albedo would help cool the planet in two ways: It would mean that more of the sun's light gets reflected back into space, and it would mean that the clouds are physically denser, and holding more water. Thus, precipitation would be heavier, and this would have a cooling effect.

We have almost 50 ppm of CO2 in our atmosphere more than is considered allowable to keep Earth's temperature stable. It is absolutely imperative that we focus on cutting carbon emissions as much as possible. There are cars available in Europe which achieve 75 mpg, using small, turbocharged diesel engines. If America is to truly make an impact toward helping to curb global warming, diesel is the way of the future. It is a beautiful sight to see people buying hybrid cars with the intention of saving the planet. Frankly, it's about time we started caring for our home. I'm sorry, but if you bought a hybrid with the hope of helping to actually reduce your carbon footprint, you've been misled by hype.